That Time of Year
by WritingAmateur
Summary: Seto Kaiba is working on Christmas eve... but Seto doesn't care about Christmas. Does he? Might be a two-shot with a New Year's Eve follow-up, if people would like one... Trustshipping, Seto x Ishizu. FLUFF CENTRAL.


He'd been typing for so long that the pads of his fingers had begun to go numb, mouth gently falling open wider and wider over the hours, gaping, fishlike, without his noticing; his eyes gradually glazing over, the bright green-white desktop screen casting his already pale face in a watery, sickly glow in the darkness of his office.

Seto Kaiba was certainly not one to celebrate Christmas-at least, certainly not one to take a break during the holiday.

In fact, if it weren't for Mokuba, he probably wouldn't have even remembered it _was_ Christmas in the first place. The sudden recasting of the Manor's interior as some overdone winter wonderland-type house, with glass snowflakes hanging from the ceiling of the main hallway, the banisters and moldings of each stairway and room crowned with fresh greenery and crimson velvet ribbon, a massive shiny tree in the main sitting room-all very sentimental, very _silly_ and _childish_ , and all _very_ Mokuba-

The offices at KaibaCorp had been empty for a good while now, as Mokuba had taken the liberty-the _nerve_ of him, _really,_ Seto thought dismissively, a crease nestling in his brow at the memory-of giving his staff the entire Christmas _week_ off work, giving him somesuch nonsense about them _wanting to spend time with family_ and _buying presents_ and _taking a vacation_ -the latter sentiment of which Seto Kaiba hardly understood. Certainly the second reason was valid; after all, KaibaCorp always made a killing during the holiday season, what with the new editions of Duel Disks hitting the market precisely at the right time each year…

 _Spend time with family_ , though-

Seto rolled his neck gently, lifting his fingers from the keyboard and allowing himself to blink a few times, a sharp intake of breath at the dull pain from his tiny motions hissing like steam throughout the empty room.

 _I'm sure Mokuba is waiting for me downstairs-_

 _-I might as well join him-_

Something like warmth prickling at his skin soon turned into rather unpleasant goosebumps of surprise at the sound of his desk telephone ringing, the furrow in his brow digging in like the beginnings of a headache.

Seto scowled to himself as he stretched out his back, feeling long-stilled joints cracking and settling anew, and reached for the phone. "Kaiba-"

The voice careening and swooping through the phone, racing through timbres and octaves in a characteristically flamboyant way, confirmed the throbbing in Seto's head.

"Well, _hello_ , Kaiba-boy, and a _merry Christmas_ to you! And, of course, to darling little _Mokuba_ , though now he must nearly be an _adolescent_ now, _ha, ha, ha_ -"

 _Pegasus._

Seto gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to throw the phone back down onto the receiver-a childish, albeit satisfying-seeming option. "The _hell_ do _you_ want, Pegasus?"

Through the line, the sound of overdramatic _tsk-_ ing echoing annoyingly. "My, my, my, Kaiba-boy, why the rush to get rid of me? Surely _you_ , of all people, are not exactly _busy_ with holiday festivities-not if I know _you_ , Kaiba-boy…"

"Pegasus, believe me, hearing from _you_ would kill any holiday cheer I might have ever managed to muster," snapped Seto in response, resting his elbows on the desk and raking his fingers through his bangs impatiently, willing his headache to go away even as it spread to the base of his skull.

A pause. A buried pout ringing in the stale air. "How _rude_ of you, you _Grinch_!" A delicate sip of something from a crystal glass. "Anyway, _Kaiba-boy_ , I merely called to wish you good tidings and holiday greetings and all of that Christmas goodwill, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! I mean, I know _you_ aren't much for Christmas, but I happened to think of you while I was enjoying my gingerbread cookies-after all, since Christmas is when you spend time with those you _love_ and _care for_ -"

"A card would have sufficed." _Or not even contacting me in the first place-_

Pegasus's giggle, high-pitched and sickly sweet as a lie, rang throughout the room. "Ah, but what's the fun in _that_ , Kaiba-boy? After all, I _do_ believe us to be more than mere business partners, but _good friends-_ "

At this, Seto bit his lip to keep from laughing sardonically. "If _that's_ how you see our relationship, Pegasus, you are even _more_ deluded than I gave you credit for."

A faux-haughty sigh. Another sip. "Ah, Kaiba-boy, someday you'll come to your senses and realize that-well-Christmas is, to put it in a rather _gauche_ way, a time to let people know you _care_. Now, I know the _great_ Seto Kaiba doesn't care about anyone except for little Mokuba, but I merely thought I would extend a little greeting and express my affection for _you_ and my enjoyment of your company…"

 _My company-or my_ capital-C-company, _more like-_

Seto fought the urge to roll his eyes. Or stab himself with a letter opener. " _Please_ tell me I'm not the only person you're calling tonight with this nonsense."

Another chuckle, velvet. "Oh _dear me_ , not in the least! I must call all of _your_ little friends as well- _Yugi-boy_ and that whole little delightful coterie of young people-not to mention, of course, my dear friends back in Egypt-surely you remember the _Ishtars_ …?"

Seto suddenly swallowed hard, something like a lump rounding out in his throat. He coughed in a faint attempt to clear it, hoping to seem merely and utterly nonchalant about _them_. _Those people. That person-_

"How _could_ I forget those _deluded_ idiots with their damned Pharaoh _mumbo-jumbo_?"

He'd spoken too harshly by half- _overreacted_ -he realized, stomach sinking, as Pegasus paused for a few too many moments for Seto's liking. Thinking. Judging. That undoubtedly intelligent mind of his whirling about, analyzing the _way_ Seto had responded to the mention of-

- _he can't have-_

"I _see_." Pegasus's voice was uncomfortably pregnant with meaning as Seto took a deep, shuddering breath as quietly as his coiled body would allow.

Another sip through the line to break another long silence. "Well, my _dear_ Kaiba-boy, it was _delightful_ to speak with you-I _do_ hope to see you again-perhaps at the next Duel Academy Tournament?"

Seto snorted a bit too loudly, too forcedly, as he hung up the phone, palms gasping in a faint wave of sweat. "Don't count on it."

The skin on the back of his neck prickled incessantly as he sat in the silence of his office, a sinking feeling ingratiating itself in his stomach, heart pounding in his ears as he tried not to think about it. Any of it.

What that _idiotic_ Pegasus had said-

" _Ah, Kaiba-boy, someday you'll come to your senses and realize that-well-Christmas is, to put it in a rather gauche way, a time to let people know you care."_

What a horrid, sentimental concept. To use this moneyed, greedy excuse for a holiday as a time to express _feelings_ like that-

-as if he were _admitting_ to having them-?

-like _that?_

-for _her?_

Had he _always_ been so transparent?

 _I can't believe I'm doing this-_

Like that of a man possessed, Seto's hand hovered over the buttons on the telephone pad, fingers twitching, spine shuddering, the fist wrapped around at the receiver gripping the plastic almost to the point of pain.

The digits-

 _Those_ he knew by heart, even if he had never _actually_ worked up the nerve to dial them-

It had seemed so damned _simple_ every time-to put the phone to his ear, wait for the dial tone to melt into that incessant ringing before _someone_ picked it up-

-that familiar, calm voice-

-the possibility of a trace of pleasant, demure surprise coloring _that_ _voice-_

-every time, he'd stopped himself, shaking his head in frustration at the stupidity of it all.

-What would he even _say?_ What kind of _pretense_ -

He scoffed at himself, trying to ease some elastic back into his bones, life back into his shell-shocked frozen body, still glued to the chair like it would save him-

 _It's not a big deal. It's not-after all, it's surely no stranger than Pegasus calling me tonight-_

His face was uncomfortably warm- _damned home heating system must be screwed up again_ -as he flexed his fingers one last time before dialing the number, feeling bile rise into his throat, stomach churning delicately as he cradled the receiver under his chin.

 _Prring. Prrring. Prrrring._

 _-goddamned international calling-_

"Cairo Museum of Antiquities, this is Ishizu Ishtar-"

-he nearly _dropped_ the phone onto his desk at the _sound_ of her _voice_ , trying to grab hold of it once more with sweat-slicked hands as he unconsciously uncrossed and recrossed his legs rapidly, hitting his knee on the underside of his desk- _fuck, ow-_

"Hello?"

When he finally got the phone back to his ear, his bangs were sticking to his forehead, voice coming out in hyperventilating gasps and sputters. "Ishizu-"

 _I'm such a fucking idiot-_

Her voice was soft at first. Calm. Curious, even. Everything he'd imagined and yet more. Rounded. Bitten through with intelligence, crackling like embers in a warm fireplace-

"Could this be Seto Kaiba?"

The way she pronounced his name- _both_ of his names-warmth ringing out in every syllable-

Seto took a deep breath, covering the mouthpiece with his free hand, hoping to some sort of deity that she couldn't hear how _witless_ he sounded-

"Ah. Yes-it's me-it's Seto Kaiba-"

It sounded like she was _smiling_ - _dear God-_ on her side as she responded. "Ah, Seto Kaiba. I haven't heard from you in-could it have been nearly _two years_ since you were last in Egypt?"

Seto shifted in his seat, lifting the fabric of his suddenly too-warm turtleneck shirt away from his skin to allow some desperately-needed air to circulate. "I-I think so. Yes. Two years-that sounds about right-"

 _I'm such a fucking idiot-really,_ this _is the level of conversation I am able to engage in with this ridiculous woman-?_

Ishizu's voice was perfectly even as it issued from the receiver, a slash of tartness in the syllables. "It's rather too bad we didn't stay in touch. I received a _lovely_ postcard from Yugi and his friends earlier this month-"

Seto bit back a snarl reactively, adjusting the phone under his chin and pushing his bangs around on his forehead. "If you think I have _anything_ to do with those _twerps_ -"

Resignation on her end. A quiet, almost imperceptible pressing together of soft lips. Seto considered banging his head against the wall at his ill-timed outburst. _I'm such a damned child-_

"I didn't suggest you _did,_ Seto Kaiba. Just that-well, I believed you and I had reached some sort of understanding after our duel. And when the Pharaoh made the journey to his final resting place-I _did_ anticipate that you might have some questions."

 _She expected to hear from me-?_

Through a haze of sheer humiliation fogging his brain, Seto managed to blink a few times, grasping at strings of intuition one by one.

 _She sounds-_

 _-disappointed? That I never-_

He tried to laugh lightly, to restore some semblance of a tone he could handle in this conversation, an uneasy chuckle sliding from between his lips too quickly. "Ah-well. You know me-I was never taken in by that _nonsense-_ "

 _Please, someone shut my damned mouth, because clearly I have no control over this-_

A thick, humming pause on her end, followed by a quiet, complacent sigh. Like he had failed some sort of test on her part. "I know."

Seto swallowed hard, that lump in his throat rising, reducing his voice to something approximating a squeak. "Anyway…"

 _-God, I sound like a teenage girl-_

Voice measured but laced through with query. "Is there a reason you're calling me _now_ , Seto?"

 _Fuck. Dammit-_

" _Surely_ you aren't calling to wish me a merry Christmas?" Ishizu's voice sounded utterly surprised-even downright confused-at the possibility. "After all, you know _I_ don't celebrate Christmas, and knowing you, you _surely_ aren't going to be revelling in the holiday season…?"

Her voice trailed off deliberately, leaving room for something to be filled in. Something neat and tidy where the words-the _sentiments-_ were anything but.

-a denial?

-a confirmation?

Seto cleared his throat fruitlessly, mentally ordering his vocal cords to submit to his will. Then he did it again. Still nothing.

His voice still wobbled out of his control as he eventually managed to reply, licking his lips anxiously almost to the point of discomfort. "Ah-well. I just got a call from-from _Pegasus_ , of all people-and he-he said-well-that Christmas was the time of year when-well-" His voice trailed off in an off-key whisper, mouth going dry as he fathomed trying to express _anything_ in a way that would be less than _completely_ _humiliating-_

Then-

-on the other side-

-it sounded like Ishizu was holding her breath-

- _could she be-?_

"Pegasus-that _fop_ -said, well-that… Christmas-is supposed to be-um-when you tell people you care. So. Um. That's why I called."

A dangerously uncomfortable pause as Seto seriously considered going into hiding. The flush steaming on his neck and cheeks surely was a sign of illness-surely it couldn't be _healthy_ to _blush this damned much-_

A quiet but deep breath sounded through the receiver. In and out. Full-bodied. _Mediative._

-as if Ishizu were _struggling_ to think of what to say-?

Seto sniffed a bit more loudly than he intended, eyes prickling wetly. Hotly. Unpleasantly.

 _Well. That was that. Time to hang up and prevent further humiliation-_

"Seto."

Seto nearly bit his own tongue trying to spit out a cogent response. "Y-yes?"

 _Oh god, oh god, oh god-_

Ishizu's voice was once again warm, even a little-Seto gulped as the thought struck him like a cold slap- _shy?-_ as she responded.

"Thank you, Seto. Thank you for calling me tonight. I-well, I-"

It was Seto's turn to pause as the woman on the other end seemingly struggled to find the correct words, her usually-silvered tongue untangling itself from the knots of things left unsaid, of logic considered and discarded.

"I really appreciate it-and- _well_ -"

He heard her pause again thoughtfully, his chest rattlingly hollow and empty as his heart fluttered to a stop, the endless time it was taking for her to formulate the right words edging him into madness.

"I-I hope you decide to call again soon."

At that, the phone finally slipped through Seto's clammy fingers, the plastic clacking against the wood of the desk with an unpleasant sound. The call dropped. Seto's face impossibly crimson and heated, mouth strangely _dry_ , eyes _wet_ once more, every flicker of reflected light in the dark office suddenly too bright, _too bright_ -

Hyperventilating, he picked up the phone once more, wincing at his apparent clumsiness.

" _I-Ishizu_?" His voice was too ragged, too unruly for his liking, but he had to- _had to-_

"I'm still here, Seto Kaiba." Something like buried amusement coloring her low voice.

Seto closed his eyes as a bead of sweat threatened to drip perilously from his eyelashes, taking in a shuddering breath and praying she couldn't hear his-his _desperation-_

"I-I will." _If I can fucking work up the damned nerve-_

 _-if I'd known-_

She sounded as if she were _grinning_ when she responded. "I would like that very much."

Seto hung up the phone and released a tiny groan from deep within his chest, sounding for all the world like a damned _child_.

 _What-_

 _-what do I even-_

A knock at the door. "Seto?"

Seto cleared his throat, eyes widening briefly as he attempted to wipe his forehead dry, his hands dry, restore some semblance of normalcy to himself-

"Ah. Mokuba-I'll be right down. Do you have the movie picked out?" His voice more breathless than he'd have _ever_ wanted- _hopefully he doesn't notice-_

His brother's incessant, clear laugh, muffled only slightly by the thick oak of the door. "I think you mean _movies_ , Seto…"

 _Good god._ "Go get them queued up; I'll be down once I send one final email."

"Promise?" False petulance disguising a real question.

"I promise." Seto tapped a few buttons on the keyboard to shut down the desktop computer, the pale screen melting into a deep blue, then to black.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas."

Mokuba's shoes squeaked, high-pitched and new, down the stairs, growing ever fainter, as Seto allowed himself to smile, the motion feeling unfamiliar but not entirely unpleasant.

 _Merry Christmas, indeed._


End file.
